UN Convention on the ‘rights of persons with disabilities’ has recognized right to information access to information and communication technologies is the basic human right. So that every individual is able to participate and contribute actively in the society. However, despite of releasing the importance of this right by 159 countries across the globe, a segment of this user group having visual, physical or cognitive disability is deprived of this knowledge and information which is available to the general public due to inaccessibility of the printed materials. These people make up this very large demographic find it difficult or impossible to read traditional paper-based as well as modern electronic documents. According to the World Blind Union, 1 million or so books gets published each year in the world and barely 5% are made available in accessible formats. Also there is limited availability of textbooks, real-time newspapers, publications & other information materials in accessible formats.
At the same time, the requirements of the users are also need to be taken care of. The needs of the user base in various developing countries is diverse as on one end we have technology savvy users, having access to high bandwidth and on the other end users who are not comfortable with technology and with no access to computers. There are people who still use the traditional way of reading like using cassette recorder or CD player and also some people use internet and can read digital books. But there is no single system currently available which can carter both the need of the users. Many NGO libraries have come forward which produce and distribute accessible format to people with disabilities at different locations. However, there is lack of visibility to end user about books available with these libraries across different locations. There is no mechanism to get the books from different location which are available in accessible format. User doesn't get the required books in real time due to lack of technology mainly the newspapers and periodicals.
To provide more accessibility of the published content or the accessible format to the print disabled users, various attempts have been made. Currently a number of universities have come up with websites catering specifically to the print disabled users. Various other web based and software based platforms have also been provided on the similar lines. In addition to that, the existing solutions are focused only towards the need of print disabled users. In addition to print disabled users, there are other stakeholders as well such as publishers and NGOs who willing to provide various services to those users.
From publisher's perspective, as per statistics, there is lack of publishing house/Publishers taking up the responsibility of making their works fully accessible to persons with print disabilities. The reasons behind this is either due to the unavailability of technology know how or technology support required to produce accessible format and also due to lack of inclusive process (integrating standards and guidelines of digital accessible publishing) place to provide assurances to authors and publishers that system will not expose their published works to misuse or distribution for circulation and used only by intended beneficiaries i.e. print disabled persons only. Publishers are not producing the accessible format due to lack of domain and technical knowledge and also not willing to share the soft copy/base format to organization who are capable of converting the content into accessible format due to potential commercial risk. There is no mechanism available where both the above mentioned points can be addressed.
In addition to above mentioned points, there are many NGO's are producing books in accessible format both in English as well as in regional language. NGO's mostly focuses on educational materials, novels, fictions etc. There could be multiple accessible copies of the same book getting produced and lying with multiple different libraries, which leads to duplication of work and unnecessary cost and effort spent. Also it leads to wastage of resource utilization. There is no way to exchange the books in accessible format between the libraries throughout the countries.
Because of the diverse needs and preferences of the users, the NGO's are unable to fulfil the needs of the users in preferred format. This is due to lack of technology and unavailable system. To cater the diverse needs of diverse user base there is no distribution system and infrastructure in place that can reach out to all the segments which complies with national law provisions that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats.
Further, copyright law of few countries allow the NGO's to convert and print content in accessible format without the permission of author and publisher provided it is non-profit initiative and such content should be given only to bona fide print disable person. Currently there is no such processes or audit in place which can implement such recommendations and to verify these aspects. International law (Marrakesh treaty) allows cross border transfer of accessible formats with the conditions mentioned above. But there is no system in place which can verify that organization involved in distribution of accessible format are following International norms and copyright law of land.
Various other efforts have been made to provide a solution for above mentioned problems, but none of them have been convincing. A system is required which can cater the needs of each stake holders, i.e., print disabled users, publishers, NGOs and universities to ensure availability of accessible format to the print disabled users in real time, and in their preferred way and format.